Can opening drain and vent punch



Jan. 1, 1957 c, KLQK CAN OPENING DRAIN AND VENT PUNCH Filed Jan. 19, 1954 INVENTOR. A20 6424. 1?. K40

Arroewe'vs United States Patent CAN OPENING DRAIN AND VENT PUNCH Carl R. Klok, Iron River, Mich. Application January 19, 1954, Serial No. 404,949

4 Claims. (Cl. 30-61) This invention relates to a can opening drain and vent punch.

According to the present invention, drain and vent holes are simultaneously punched in a can top by my improved tool which engages the head at a point intermediate the two punches, the tool thereby pivoting in a plane which is transverse to a line drawn between the two punches.

In one embodiment of the invention, the bead is engaged at two peripherally spaced points proximate the respective punches. In another embodiment the bead is engaged at a single central point. I have also disclosed punches which are approximately rectangular at their terminal ends and punches which are pointed, the former being preferred because of the fact that the tool is thereby made perfectly safe, completely lacking any points or cutting edges in any ordinarly accepted sense of the words.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the tool of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the tool of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the tool of Fig. 1 applied to a can preliminary to the opening thereof, portions of the tool and of the can being broken away.

Fig. 5 is a view taken in section on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a can showing openings made therein for drain and vent purposes by the tool of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a view in perspective showing a modified embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a view in side elevation of the tool of Fig. 7 showing the latter applied to a can fragmentarily illustrated.

The tool comprises a bridge portion 10 which, in the device of Figs. l-5 is arcuate in cross section and in the device of Figs. 7 and 8 is rectangular as shown in 10'. At the ends of the bridge portion are the punches 11, 12 in the device of Fig. l. and 110 and 120 respectively in the device of Fig. 7. From the bridge portion a handle projects laterally. The handle is shown at 13 in the device of Fig. 1 and at 130 in the device of Fig. 7.

A suitable bead engaging hook means projects laterally from the bridge portion of the tool at a point intermediate the punches. The device of Fig. 1 uses separate hooks at 14 and 15 which are formed integrally from the material of the bridge or body 10 and turned back upon themselves at an appropriate angle to be engaged beneath the bead 16 of can 17 at a point quite close to the point where the adjacent corner of the respective purch will engage the can top 18. In the device of Fig. 7 the bead engaging hook means comprises a single hook at 19 which is formed integrally upon the extension 20 of the handle 130.

The operation of the two is the same in each of the illustrated embodiments. The hook means is engaged beneath the head in the manner shown in Figs. 4 and 8, with the handle 13 projecting upwardly and the body portion 10 or 10' of the tool nearly horizontal. With the can top still intact, the corners of the generally rectangular punches 11 and 12 will rest upon the can top 18 as shown in Fig. 4. Similarly the corner or apex of the bevelled punches and of the device of Figs. 7 and 8 will rest upon the can top as shown in Fig. 8.

Pressure is now applied to the handle in a downward direction, causing the tool to oscillate clockwise from the full line position of Fig. 4 to the dotted line position in that view with the result that the punches are caused to penetrate the can top to form openings 22, 23 therein as shown in Fig. 6. The nature of the openings produced by the tool will be essentially similar whether the punches have rectangular ends, as in Fig. 1, or pointed ends, as in Fig. 7.

Both punches function simultaneously due to the fact that they are both engaged with the can top prior to the punching operation of the handle, and due to the further fact that the oscillation is in a plane at right angles to a line connecting the punches. Moreover, in the use of both of the embodiments illustrated, the parallel slots 22 and 23 are produced by penetration of the respective punches through the can top at the corresponding ends of the respective slots nearest the hooks, and progressive penetration of the can top toward the ends of the resulting slots which are remote from the side of the can to which the bead is engaged.

It will be obvious that the openings need not necessarily be elongated in parallelism with each other as shown, since the form of the opening may be determined by the form of the punch. The type of opening produced by the parallel laterally elongated punches illustrated is preferred.

I claim:

1. A tool for punching dispensing and vent openings in a beaded can top, said tool comprising a bridgedike body portion having downwardly turned ends provided with terminal punches, said body portion being provided with laterally projecting bead-engaging hook means, said body portion having laterally projecting handle means connected centrally to it, said punches being spaced substantially symmetrically in a lateral direction respecting the extent of the handle means and the hook means and positioned to register with opposite sides of a can top when the hook means is engaged beneath the bead thereof, whereby said openings will concurrently be punched upon manipulation of the handle.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the hook means comprises separate hooks proximate the respective punches.

3. The device of claim 1 in which the punches have substantially rectangular ends, sufiiciently square in elevation to present no dangerous point.

4. The device of claim 1 in which the bridge means comprises an arcuate strap at the top of which the handle is connected, the hook means comprising integral portions of the strap folded upon themselves and the punch means comprising the terminal ends of the strap laterally adjacent the hook means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,481,478 Moore et al. Ian. 22, 1924 1,670,676 Anderson May 22, 1928 2,054,504 Kaemmerlen et al. Sept. 15, 1936 2,686,964 Manthey Aug. 24, 1954 

